Creole Mustard
You guys may remember a few months back I headed out to New Orleans, ate at some crazy delicious spots, and got to do some cooking to learn how the locals really throw down. Predictably, I came back with a suitcase full of Louisiana-centric ingredients – maybe 5 different types of hot sauce, boil seasoning (both powdered and liquid), and some mayhaw jelly to name a few of them. One of my favorite NOLA finds, though, was this secret recipe Creole Mustard.
Now, I say secret recipe because (and I heard this from a man named Don Creole, mind you, down at the French Market. Check him out if you go!) this is top secret stuff, and the companies that make the mustard won’t go much further than to say they use high quality brown mustard seeds (stone ground and more flavorful than the yellow bunch) and a ton of spices. The bottle also maddeningly says that the ingredients are: “water, vinegar, mustard seed, spice, canola oil, and xanthum gum.” Which spice I ask?!? Don also said that this Rex brand is the best of the best, and his accent was so syrupy and convincing that I threw the bottle right on in my basket next to the mayhaw jelly.
Creole mustard takes mustard to a new level. It’s thick, rich, and spicy without having a ton of heat. I’ve heard that the seeds are marinated for quite some time in vinegar, and I can detect garlic, cayenne, either nutmeg or allspice, and a touch of horseradish in the bottle I have. It’s a key ingredient in the famed, Louisiana remoulade sauce, and I’ve been using it in lieu of Dijon mustard since I got back.
Delicious in marinades, transformative on a ham sandwich, and makes a next level vinaigrette, I’m all about Creole mustard from here on out. You can definitely find it online, but can you believe even Whole Foods carries it…